Nine-man Cockburn hold on for three points

Report by Tristan Wheeler

Cockburn City stole an away win at Securitas Protect Stadium on Saturday afternoon, beating Mandurah City 1-0 in a hard-fought game.

Controversy arose in the 58th minute, when Joshua Kuser lashed out against a Mandurah player during a set play before being sent off.

Despite being a man down, it was Cockburn who took the lead. The deciding goal came when Cockburn City forward Liam Murray beat Mandurah defender Oscar Thompson in the air, stealing the ball and calmly slotting home in the 87th minute.

Desperate to equalise, Mandurah pushed forward, spending a majority of the final minutes in the Cockburn half.

Cockburn captain Euen Grant received his second yellow for a shirt pull, leaving Cockburn to hold out with nine players for the remainder of the half.

Cockburn coach Scott Miller felt his side deserved the win.

“They were the better team all day,” he said.

“For all their height, they (Mandurah) huffed and puffed but they never, even with the extra man, they never dominated, and we still did well.”

Mandurah coach Doug Hesketh was disappointed with the result.

“We controlled the play for most of the game and got most of our decisions right; unfortunately our opposition got all of their decisions right, but that’s football,” he said.

In other games on Saturday, Inglewood United celebrated a confidence-boosting 2-1 victory over Perth SC at Dorrien Gardens, ECU Joondalup overcame a hardworking Subiaco side to win 4-1 at ECU Football Stadium and Stirling showed their quality to brush aside Armadale with a convincing 4-0 win at Macedonia Park.

Bayswater jumped to fifth position on the league table after beating Joondalup United 4-0 at Percy Doyle Reserve, while Floreat Athena drew 2-2 with Balcatta at E&D Litis Stadium.

On Sunday, Sorrento maintained their place at the top of the PS4 NPLWA ladder after an entertaining 4-2 win against Perth Glory at Ashfield Reserve.